Was my english teacher being racist?

Question

Somehow we got talking about concentration camps in the US and the people dealing with them, and he said that....

Japanese are bad in comparison to Germans b/c (this is his example) "if you surround a group of japanese, they'll attack you, but if you surround a group of Germans, they'll surrender."

Basically he was trying to say that germans were better than japanese, and I don't make assumptions based on race, but don't you think (from his example) that german's just don't have the sense of patriotism that Japanese do?

Answer 1

Well im german myself (partially) and i think thats racist. Im not from germany just so you know and i know the holocaust happened. Ive been to the museum in D.C. lol i dont live that far from there i went on a school field trip. Yes that is quite racist, i mean yes the japanese didnt back down but there very prideful people. not to say the germans arnt but you know. the germans surrendered cause they knew the had no chance of winning. Im guessing your teacher is german.

Edit- he calls you stupid, lol you know if you record that and catch him in the act of that you can have him fired

Edit- well i am considering just quiting c&a and picking up the dog section, like to get a tc badge there too lol

Answer 2

From the information provided it is very possible he is being racist because he is in the proper position. Although, it all depends on how he said it.

I don't know but please do the kids in your school a favor and get him fired...he's trash. I can't stand teachers who don't take responsibility for their lack of teaching so they blame the students. Ugh!

GET HIM FIRED!  

Answer 3

Well, may be the use of the words ‘bad’, ‘good’ was only relative. In his example, he may have meant that the Germans enemies are ‘good’ for your survival because they surrender (and you’re safe!), but the Japanese are ‘bad’ because they don’t surrender and you’re in a spot because somebody will have to die.  

May be his context was military tactics adopted by Germans/Japanese in the past, as Clara Casey suggests. Then how does the teacher connect it to concentration camps/holocaust? That seems a bit strange, unless he simply digressed.

But if he’s interpreting ‘history’ as supportive data simply to invoke racial/cultural stereotypes in his class today, it’s certainly inappropriate behaviour for a teacher – I’d say he’s ignorant first and thence racist.

Answer 4

It doesn't seem too likely that it's "racist", considering that's what happened in WW2.  That's why two of Japan's cities were destroyed.  It could have stopped at one, but they wanted to keep fighting.  h**l, even after the second it took them 6 days to surrender.

Answer 5

I don't think his comment was intended as being racist, but I am not in a position to make that judgment.

To me, it looks like he was saying that the Japanese were bad to fight because they would not surrender. This is because, at least at that time, in Japanese culture surrender was at least as bad as death and so the soldiers would rather die fighting than surrender (also look at kamikaze pilots for evidence of this). Germans, on the other hand, would recognize that they could not win a battle and were willing to surrender since they knew that they had certain rights as prisoners of war.

This does not mean that one nation is better or more patriotic than the other, it simply highlights some of the differences between cultures.

Answer 6

i dont pretend to know everything but the Japanese were taught that to surrender was the worst sin, so they preferred to fight to the death rather than give up.  there leader was considered a god for real and they believed in giving up their lives for him.  i dont know what else your teacher taught but maybe he was not thorough enough in the differences in mind set.   watch old history channel shows about kamikaze pilots, really explains a lot

Answer 7

thats bcaus the jews branwash germans to beleive holocaust happen, so germans can not lift there heads high.. whn relly holocaust bullshit!!

sory my englsh not good..

i not be ignorent, i saying truth!! i reserch, i read all books, jsut my englsh not good! in europe they get jail for deny or queston holocaust..an why? bcaus jews are hiding truth!! they want steal Palestinian land an make excus for wrold beleive an feel sory for them!!

Answer 8

Maybe he was talking about specific battles that happened near the end of WWII.  He was drawing conclusions about the military tactics used by those groups 60 years ago.

I wouldn't say that is racism.  He was teaching history.

Give him the benefit of the doubt.  This time.

Answer 9

not racist, he was trying to use this example to teach you an abstract lesson.

Answer 10

His comments may not be racist but they are definitely imperialist. In a war it should be expected that when an enemy is cornered they would fight to the death. In this case these people of Japanese and German decent were citizens of the U.S. Only an imperialist mind would think it's more favorable for people to amicably and peacefully surrender their civil liberties and be hoarded into concentration camps.

I am in no way trying to say that U.S. was not justified in going to war against the German and Japanese government however you were talking about noncombatant citizens of the U.S. The Government knew this was wrong. This is why these people were given reparations for their horrendous treatment in the name of national security.  

Answer 11

I think that the Japanese never intended to surrender because they have pride, honor, and they don't want to lose.

Yes, it does sound like your English teacher is being racist. He's saying how good the Germans are and how bad that the Japanese are. Your english teacher must be white.  

Answer 12

He's racist, the Germans, like the Japanese, fought to the end, even creating a synthetic fuel(formula lost), when reserves ran out.Many destroyed their stations to prevent the Allies from getting anything.The Japanese rounded up, killed, and devoured their concubines when food reserves ran out, than they started devouring prisoners, including US troops-this has just recently been documented.

Being he is an English teacher, he should stick with teaching English, rather than History. If he is making advances on the girls, he needs to be reported to school authorities(your parents first).